Schultz Senior Apartments open for business with 30 occupants

The transformation of Cape Girardeau's first public high school into senior housing is now complete and open for business.

Thirty occupants moved into Schultz Senior Apartments when it opened today. Sixty-six percent of the building is leased to qualifying applicants.

Developer Chad Hartle said the development exceeded his highest expectations. "It's tremendously rewarding to be able to move these folks in after working on this two-and-a-half years," Hartle said. "During this whole process I was able to provide hundreds of jobs in this economy."

While Hartle owns four senior housing complexes in Jackson, with another expected to break ground on construction in the near future in Jackson, this is his first in Cape Girardeau.

The building at 101 S. Pacific St. has 21 one-bedroom and 24 two-bedroom apartments. In October 2007 Hartle was awarded $600,000 in state and federal tax credits annually for 10 years to help finance the renovation of the building. In July the project was awarded a $250,000 grant tied to Cape Girardeau's participation in the Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri Initiative.

* Schnucks loses money in credit card scam: Schnucks manager Dennis Marchi said his grocery store has lost a considerable amount of money in a credit card scheme. For almost a year scam artists have used credit cards to obtain gift cards. Marchi said customers are now required to present picture identification to prevent future identity theft.

"We're just looking out for the customer's best interests," Marchi said. "And most of our customers understand that we're trying to protect them."

* Photography studio opens: A photography studio has opened in downtown Cape Girardeau. Photography by Sheena, 19B N. Spanish St., offers customers a range of photograph options.

The studio is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and may be reached at 803-0350. Visit them online at www.photographybysheela.com.

* Office supply business opens new store: An office supply company has opened a second store in Cape Girardeau. Interstate Document Solutions, 821A Broadway, carries traditional office supplies, owner Ed Alvey told me.

"It's just an extension of my copier business, which I purchased four years ago," Alvey said. "I'm trying to appeal to the customers who live in this area, such as college students."

Visit the Broadway store from 10 a.m to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

* Plaza Tire Service changes site of planned store: You may have noticed that construction on a new Plaza Tire Service store at 1710 N. Kingshighway recently stopped. But owner Scott Rhodes told me plans are still on to build a new store, just not at that address. The new store will be built where the old store is at 1634 N. Kingshighway, once the old building is demolished. Construction on the new store should begin within the next 60 days and be complete by mid-summer.

* Accounting firm building under construction: By mid-January a new accounting firm is expected to move into a building at 2820 E. Jackson Blvd. Suite B, just in time for tax season. Lisa Cook and Gina Hamlin, who have started their firm Cook and Hamlin, are operating out of a home office until the building is ready. The firm will offer tax preparation, payroll services and bookkeeping.

Hamlin said they're ecstatic about their new opportunity.

"We like the idea of being our own boss and starting up a small business instead of just being an employee," Hamlin said. "Everytime we go into Jackson to check our mail for the business we get a little more excited."

The tax prep firm will be open 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. Their phone number is 877-805-5520.

* Ribbon cutting: A ribbon cutting is scheduled this week by the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce.

The ceremony will be at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday for the rebuilt Burger King at the corner of Broadway and Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau. The original facility was constructed more than 35 years ago and the new Burger King was finished earlier this month. New features include a double drive-through lane and a new interactive play area for children.

Southeast Missourian business reporter Brian Blackwell may be contacted at 388-3628 or bblackwell@semissourian.com.<I>